( NYPost )
Three city public school students have killed themselves in the last three weeks — part of an escalating crisis brought on by the absence of in-person education, city officials revealed Wednesday.
The tragedies bring the total number of student suicides this year to five, the Department of Education said.
There were a total of four in all of 2020, officials said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio linked the deaths to deepening student isolation amid coronavirus turmoil during his daily briefing on Wednesday.
“Many kids are feeling really isolated in the absence of the regular rhythms of their life,” he said. “Particularly the absence of school for some of them.”
De Blasio said that mounting desperation among city children severed from their prior routines makes reopening schools increasingly urgent.
“This is why it’s imperative we bring back schools as quickly as possible,” he said.
Middle schools are slated to open up next week, with roughly half offering full-time classroom teaching.
Elementary schools resumed partial in-person learning in December.
There is still no timetable for the revival of classroom instruction at city high schools.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza referenced rising scholastic suicides across the nation during a meeting with Community Education Council 21 last week in pressing for wider school reopening.
Citing privacy restraints, the DOE declined to provide any further details on the recent suicides — including age range.